


I Wish I Could Stay

by anime_napoleon



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Crossover, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, spoilers for both svsss and fe3h
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28075605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anime_napoleon/pseuds/anime_napoleon
Summary: [ Thank you for bearing with us as system transfer was processed. You are no longer under the jurisdiction for the PIDW System. Please enjoy your time in Fire Emblem: Three Houses! ]Shen Qingqiu could not believe he was going to have to start from scratch in some fantasy world where he was without his qi and without his husband. Since he's the protagonist this time, that means things will be easy, and he'll be back home in no time, right?Right?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22
Collections: Reincarnation and Transmigration





	1. Chapter 1

A war. Hundreds of men wearing unfamiliar armor, fighting in the rain. Footsoldiers, calvary, even some riding pegasi all clashed against the enemy.

Then, from the sky, like a bolt loosed from God’s hand came a sword shining brightly like a star, setting the field around it alight. A man followed, his face was carved stone, with cold, golden eyes. He drew the sword from the dirt, and with an unholy fearsomness he lashed the sword out, its blade extending into a barbed whip. 

The soldiers surrounding the man charged, but it was no use. His sword struck out again and again, a whirlwind of death.

As the battle wore on, a woman appeared, standing cold and aloof while her men fell around her. “Lady Seiros!” they cried as they fell, but she stood unblinking. 

The man with the strange sword noticed her from across the battlefield and sent his blade to meet her. It whipped so furiously through the air it created a shockwave, tearing the earth from the ground and sending the soldiers from both sides flying back. 

The woman, Seiros, stood her ground and readied her blade, a look of unimaginable rage twisting her perfect features.

They clashed in the middle of the clearing, all around watching in awe. Their movements were incredibly fast, perhaps faster than any normal person would be capable of. The two blades bit into each other, refusing to let go as the man smirked. He shoved her back with sheer force and sent his sword flying out at her. It missed by a hairs length, gouging the earth it struck, but this did not deter him. He struck out again and again, the woman barely managing to keep herself out of harm's way.

Finally, the man struck out one last time, the whip blade arcing down with lethal drive. The woman did not dodge this time. Instead, she took her own blade and caught the other with it, wrapping them together and leaving them both unusable. She cast them to the side, yanking the handle from the other man’s startled grasp as she ran at him. 

The woman knocked him to the ground with two sharp blows and pressed the tip of her knife to his throat. Panting, she snarled, “Tell me, Nemesis. Do you recall the Red Canyon?”

As his eyes widened in recognition, she screamed “You’ll die for that!” and plunged her blade into his chest over and over, each strike punctuated with the shout “Die!”

“You took… everything that I loved!” The knife plunged into him a final time, and the woman was left alone, exhausted. She turned to face the sunrise, the soldiers around her cheered.

Standing, she went over to where the two blades had landed. Tenderly, she knelt and picked up the man’s sword. Cradling it to her face, she whispered, “He’s gone now, Mother” and smiled.  
Suddenly, the scene warped and faded into a blinding array of colors. Scenes, people, places flashed by, all unrecognizable, before everything went black.

Then, something was glowing. A faint green light.

Shen Qingqiu opened his eyes and saw a young girl with a mass of long green hair sleeping on a large stone throne. He did not recognize her, but she had pointed ears so he assumed she was a demon. He realized he was standing in a vast dark space, nothing visible save for the girl and her seat.

He had no idea where he was or how he got here, and when he tried to think about it, a splitting pain filled his head. The last thing he could pull from his memory was going to bed with his husband Luo Binghe by his side.

Wait, that’s right! There was no doubt that Luo Binghe was immediately aware of his shizun’s disappearance and was frantically searching for him. That thought calmed the rising panic in Shen Qingqiu’s chest significantly.

As he was about to pull up the System to see if it had anything helpful to say, the girl awoke. She noticed him with a start. “Oh my. What could have brought you here?” After a large yawn, she continued. “I wonder how you got in here…”

Shen Qingqiu was about to reply when she continued. “It is most rude to interrupt a moment of repose. Very rude indeed.” His eyebrow quirked in annoyance. Instinctively, he raised his hand to flick his fan out in front of his face, but his hand was empty and looking down, realized he was without it.

More pressing though was the fact that the clothes he was wearing weren’t his. Immediately he called to the system, but it responded with [ System updating, please stand by ]

That was far too formal and simple coming from the System. The panic started to again fill Shen Qingqiu’s chest.

The girl again spoke. “Hmm… I have not seen the likes of you before. Who are you, anyway?”

“I could ask you the same question. Are you the one who brought me here, demon?”

“Demon? Hah! You would do well to keep your wit in line. Are you a human?”

Shen Qingqiu figured that was a safe enough question to answer. Besides, it wasn’t something that he could really keep secret for long. “I am. Are you?”

“Of course not, can’t you tell that?” She huffed. Before Shen Qingqiu could ask a follow up, she continued, “You must have a name of sorts. Go on.” she gestured vaguely with her hand for him to speak.

A system dialogue box appeared, but it looked different from what Shen Qingqiu had seen throughout his time in the world of Proud Immortal Demon Way. It read [ Please enter preferred name ]

Why was the System asking him to enter a name? He had already been assigned a character! He had already lived through the plot of Proud Immortal Demon Way, why was he starting at some beginning event?

Regardless, it looked like he had to enter something to continue. It wouldn’t do him any good to stand here indefinitely, stubbornly refusing to pass this point. If he wanted to get out of… wherever he was, he had to press on.

The dialogue box only gave space for a first name, so he entered Huanggua.

The girl responded to the entry. “Huh. I shall not ever grow accustomed to the sound of human names. You must possess a day of birth as well. Beneath which moon and on what day were you born into this world?”

Another dialogue box opened. Although the month names were unfamiliar, there were still 12 of them, with the same amount of days they would have back home. The fact that the months were different really stuck out to Shen Qingqiu. Was he not in the world of Proud Immortal Demon Way any more? He clearly was not back home, either. He hesitated, but put in Shen Yuan’s birthday. In a strange way it was comforting to be able to finally use his old birth date after using the character Shen Qingqiu’s for so long. 

The girl’s eyebrows raised. “Well, wonders never cease! It seems we share our day of birth. How strange!”

That did strike Shen Qingqiu as strange, the odds of that happening were not particularly high in normal circumstances and in this situation there was no way it was a coincidence. Was he tied to this girl in some way? He racked his brain trying to remember if there was anyone matching her description at all in Proud Immortal Demon Way, but deep down he knew there would not be.

Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion seemed to wash over the girl. “Hmm… It all feels so… familiar.” She yawned. “I think it may be time for yet another nap…” Before she drifted off, she said, “It is almost… time to… begin…”

The scene slowly faded from Shen Qingqiu’s vision, until he was surrounded by the unbroken darkness. He imagined it was like what a sensory deprivation tank may feel like.

And then there was a voice, breaking through the silence.

“Hey, time to wake up.”

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes flew open. He sat up, in a bed that was not his, in a house he did not recognize, and with a man he did not know standing over him.

The man in the room with Shen Qingqiu was average height and a stocky build. His face was weathered and battle scarred, clearly he was a seasoned warrior. He spoke up, “Were you having that dream again?”

Shen Qingqiu had more important things to deal with at the moment than answering this man’s question. As soon as he had woken up, he couldn’t feel his qi. It wasn’t blocked, it just… wasn’t there at all. Shen Qingqiu frantically tried to pull up the system, and to his relief it worked. 

[ Thank you for bearing with us as system transfer was processed. You are no longer under the jurisdiction for the PIDW System. Please enjoy your time in Fire Emblem: Three Houses! Some functions are temporarily disabled as you complete the Tutorial. ]

That made his blood run cold. He wasn’t in either of the two worlds he knew, and no matter what he tried to say to the System it gave that same response. He wanted to scream, to cry, to laugh like a madman. 

The man’s brow furrowed. “Are you alright?”

Unconvincingly, Shen Qingqiu replied. “Yes, I’m alright, thank you.”

“If you’re not feeling well, don’t push yourself, okay?”

Shen Qingqiu barely registered the words. Luo Binghe couldn’t find him here. How would he get back to Proud Immortal Demon Way? Could he even get back? He was going to have to ask this new system some more questions, but he had to do the tutorial first apparently, to his annoyance. If he could make his way as the scum villain of a stallion novel and end up the protagonist’s husband, he could handle whatever this was, right?

“I’m alright, really.” he tried to give his best reassuring smile, though the other man didn’t seem convinced. His character seemed to know this man, maybe he could clear some things up. “I was dreaming about a young girl…”

“You’ve described her to me before. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like that.”

Well, it was worth a shot. At least he didn’t question what a strange sentence that was out of context. Plus, it confirmed that this man and himself had known each other for a while. 

“In any case, just put that out of your mind for now. The battlefield is no place for idle thoughts. Risking your life is part of the job for mercenaries like us. Letting your mind wander is a sure way to get yourself killed.”

Shen Qingqiu blanched. He wasn’t sure how he would fare in combat without any qi. Hopefully he could make it as a mercenary on basic swordsmanship alone. Still, it made him nervous how defenseless he felt without his powers he had grown so used to. He tried to calm himself down with being thankful that at least this world he was in had built-in exposition so he wasn’t completely in the dark.

“Ok, time to get moving. Our next job is in the Kingdom. I told you before. it’s far from here, so we’ll need to leave at dawn.”

Shen Qingqiu must have let his annoyance show on his face, because the man gave a disapproving look. “Good grief. Everyone is already waiting for us outside.”

At that moment, a man in a full suit of armor burst into the room. “Jeralt! Sir! Sorry to barge in, but your presence is needed.”

“What’s happened?”

The man gestured for Jeralt, thank god Shen Qingqiu had learned his name, to follow him outside. Shen Qingqiu followed behind instinctively. If he wanted answers, he had to follow the plot, and this was clearly an instigating event if he’d ever seen one.

Three teens were waiting for them, dressed in some sort of uniform. The blonde boy in the middle, clad in blue, bowed deeply and said, “Please forgive our intrusion. We wouldn’t bother you were the situation not dire.”

“What do a bunch of kids like you want at this hour?” Jeralt replied, echoing what Shen Qingqiu was thinking.

The boy spoke urgently. “We’re being pursued by a group of bandits. I can only hope that you will be so kind as to lend your support.”

“Bandits? Here?” Jeralt sounded genuinely surprised. Shen Qingqiu sighed, it looked like he wasn’t going to be able to get any practice in this new world before being thrown into the line of fire.

The girl on the right with porcelain white hair and dressed in red answered. “It’s true. They attacked us while we were at rest in our camp.”

The boy dressed in yellow on the left with chestnut colored hair followed up with, “We’ve been separated from our companions and we’re outnumbered. They’re after our lives… not to mention our gold.”

Jeralt replied, “I’m impressed you’re staying so calm considering the situation. I…” Jeralt stopped as he seemed to really take in their appearance for the first time. “Wait… that uniform…”

Before he could continue, the man in armor from before ran up and interrupted, “Bandits spotted just outside the village! Damn… there are a lot of them.”

Jeralt took in the information with a serious expression. “I guess they followed you all the way here. We can’t abandon this village now. Come on. Let’s move.” Then he turned to Shen Qingqiu. “Hope you’re ready.”

Shen Qingqiu could thoroughly say he wasn’t, but he didn’t want Jeralt to know that, so he nodded. Jeralt whistled and a horse came up to his side; he quickly swung himself up into the saddle and took off towards the village’s front gate. Shen Qingqiu didn’t know if he had a horse but even if he did, he had no clue how to ride one, so he followed on foot alongside the three teens. The brisk jog they were moving at did not lend itself well to conversation, much to Shen Qingqiu’s annoyance. These teens seemed like important characters in this world’s plot based on their standout appearances and how he had met them.

When they reached the wooden bridge set into the stone wall that encircled the village, Jeralt had already felled several bandits who had attempted to enter. Upon seeing Shen Qingqiu and the others, he called out “Let’s take care of those thieves before they overrun the village. Take down the enemies in front first. That should take the wind out of their sails.”

Shen Qingqiu bit back a sarcastic retort; of course he knew that’s what they should do! But clearly this Jeralt character was the leader in this situation, and it was best to keep his mouth shut for now in case this Jeralt gave him a lashing for his snark.

A bandit had approached right up to the bridge, so, on instinct, Shen Qingqiu ran forward to meet him. After settling down with Luo Binghe he hadn’t had much reason to fight, but he had attempted to stay in practice out of principle since he was a Peak Lord after all, and right now he was grateful to his past self for that. The bandit’s sword technique showed he was an amateur, which would make sense since he had charged the bridge alone. Shen Qingqiu made short work of him.

The teen clad in blue ran up next to him. “Thank you. We are in your debt. It wouldn’t do for us to fall in a place like this. Let’s work together to drive out these thieves!” Shen Qingqiu just nodded; he appreciated the boy’s earnestness.

The teen in yellow followed up behind, and said, “It’s because of you guys that I’m not dead right now. Thanks for that! I didn’t expect to run into mercenaries like you in some remote village. The gods of fortune must be smiling on me!” There was an edge of sass in his words which Shen Qingqiu found both annoying and painfully relatable. The odds really would have been extraordinary if this wasn’t some fantasy novel plot.

Jeralt ordered from behind them, “We’ll advance while protecting ourselves from the enemy. Take up position inside the forest.”

Shen Qingqiu and the others obeyed, and stood just behind the treeline, looking out at a trio of bandits approaching.  
The girl dressed in red spoke then, “You have a strange aura about you…”

Shen Qingqiu froze. Had he been found out so quickly? What had he even done wrong?

To his relief, she changed the subject. “You say you’re a mercenary, so show me what you can do.”

The three bandits noticed them, not that Shen Qingqiu and the others were trying to hide, and charged. Shen Qingqiu met the one in the lead and their swords clashed. He had gotten in a few hits when suddenly an arrow lodged itself in the bandit’s chest, causing the man to stumble backwards and then fall to the ground, lifeless. Shen Qingqiu turned around and saw the boy in yellow give him a cheeky salute. Well, Shen Qingqiu wasn’t going to complain. He went after the bandit behind the one who had just fallen and instinctively, after slashing, let go of his sword to send it flying into the third one. 

As his hand left the hilt of his sword, Shen Qingqiu remembered the fact he didn’t have access to qi here. 

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

All the blood drained from Shen Qingqiu’s face.

Before the bandit could react, the boy in blue ran to his side and pierced the bandit with his lance, ending him. The girl in red charged the final bandit with her axe held high and the two traded blows until he too fell.

Sheepishly, Shen Qingqiu picked up his sword. He could feel his face flush as the girl gave him a half-disgusted, half-confused look. The blonde boy next to him placed a hand on his shoulder and asked with genuine concern. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Shen Qingqiu snapped back, slightly harsher than he intended to, causing the boy to flinch back. Shen Qingqiu wanted to move on from this as quickly as possible. “Let’s keep going.”

A stout, bear-like man was beyond the forest and swore loudly. “Why are there mercenaries in the village? Guess we’ll have to deal with them too.” He and two more bandits started to approach them.

Jeralt called out from behind them, “This is a fine opportunity. Use the combat arts I taught you!”

Shen Qingqiu wanted to yell in frustration. What combat arts?! Shen Qingqiu didn’t know anything about how fighting worked here!  
Jeralt continued, “Attack when an ally is nearby, and the enemy will be intimidated, making them easier to hit.”

Of course Shen Qingqiu knew that! He was a peak lord for god’s sake! How many petty bandits like this had he felled in his career?! How many demons and monsters many times the strength of these men?!

The teens took Jeralt’s expositional dialogue seriously, however, and formed an arc around Shen Qingqiu. What, was he some sort of maiden to be protected? Shen Qingqiu purposefully strode out from behind them and took up a defensive stance. He was going to show them!

The bandit leader charged straight for him. “Hey, you with the blank stare! Outta my way!”

Blank stare?! Was everyone’s sole mission to piss Shen Qingqiu off?

As their weapons met, one of the other bandits came up on Shen Qingqiu’s right side and swung at him, but Shen Qingqiu leapt out of the way and returned with a strike of his own. Again, an arrow pierced through the man, but the boy in yellow’s aid felt pitying to Shen Qingqiu this time. He could handle himself, damnit! As he returned his focus to the bandit leader, who had shifted his attack to the girl in red, he felt an unearthly power surge through his body. Shen Qingqiu leapt forward, and ran the man through with more force than he thought he was capable of. He even felt some of the pain from his own minor wounds alleviate. 

What was that?! The girl stared at him, startled. She had noticed the shift in that attack as well. How on earth had he done that?

Just as he started to relax his stance, the bandit leapt back up to his feet and charged the girl in red. Her axe was still buried in the chest of the man she had just defeated, too deep to be pulled out quick enough, so she pulled out a small dagger to defend herself instead. 

That wasn’t going to be enough to stop him!

Shen Qingqiu took off, running as fast as he could, and shielded the girl with his own body. The last thing he heard was the bandit shout, “Die!”

Shen Qingqiu opened his eyes and was in darkness. He looked around, but it was useless. There was nothing. Was he dead? Had he really been in this world for only a few hours and died already?!

Just then, a voice sounded behind him. “Honestly! What are you accomplishing with that little stunt?!”

Shen Qingqiu turned around and was greeted with the familiar sight of the young girl atop her throne. 

“It’s like you’re trying to get me killed you fool!” She sighed dramatically. “Well, it’s fine. After all, if you don’t know the value of your own life, you’re not going to protect it very well, are you? Course not.” She stood and clapped her hands together. “Well then, I guess it’s up to me to guide you from now on. Right?”

Seriously?

“You can call me Sothis… but I’m also known as The Beginning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man I'm so psyched to get back into writing and to work on this fic! I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know what you think in the comments!


	2. Chapter 2

“Hmmm…”

Was the girl drifting off to sleep again?

“Sothis… yes that’s it. My name is Sothis. And I’m also called… The Beginning. But who once called me that?”

Was Shen Qingqiu supposed to know? “What are you talking about?”

“I was not able to recall my name… until just now. And just like that, it came to me. How odd.”

So that’s why she had deflected Shen Qingqiu’s questions the last time he was here.

“That look upon your face… Did you think me a child? A mere child who forgot her own name?!”

Well, yes, but Shen Qingqiu knew better than to say that.

“Phooey! That ‘child’ just saved your life! And what does that make you?”

“I am no child.”

“Ha! Such arrogance. You look the part, but are you truly an adult? You threw yourself before an axe to save just one young girl.”

Shen Qingqiu wanted to retort, but well, she had a point. That wasn’t exactly his greatest moment. If he only had his qi, it wouldn’t have been a problem.

“Yet all is well, as I have stalled the flow of time for now. You would have died had I not intervened.”

That made Shen Qingqiu start. “You stopped time?!”

“Hm. I do not hear your gratitude. Perhaps I should force you to leave?”

Shen Qingqiu quickly bowed, “no, uh, this one is very grateful for your aid.” Maybe Airplane Bro had rubbed off on him a bit.

“There now. Is gratitude so much to ask? I did deem you worth saving, after all. Though it is only momentary, time has stopped. However did I manage that…”

Shen Qingqiu huffed in annoyance. This girl’s habit of wondering aloud was grating on him. “So, what will happen when time resumes?”

“When time begins again, the axe will tear into your flesh, and you will surely meet your end.”  
Well, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t say that wasn’t expected.

“How rude of you to drag me into this! Now what to do…”

“Could you turn back the hands of time?” That would make sense, if this girl had time control powers she should be able to reverse it as well.

“Of course!” A large pattern in light formed in front of her. It looked like some sort of summoning or magic circle like ones Shen Yuan had seen in some anime. “Yes… I do believe it can be done. You really are quite troublesome.”

Did she have to constantly neg him like this?

“I cannot wind back time too far, but all is well. You are aware of what’s to come, which means you can protect yourself this time.” She readied herself. “Now, go… Yes, you who bears the flames within. Drift through the flow of time to find the answers that you seek…”

Shen Qingqiu’s vision faded out, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the bandit leader again leap to his feet from where he had fallen. He again charged towards the girl and again she could only draw her dagger for defense.

This time when Shen Qingqiu threw himself in front of her, he turned to face the bandit head on with his sword at the ready. Again the man bellowed “You’ll die!” as he leapt up, bringing his axe down with the force of his whole being. Deftly, Shen Qingqiu caught the underside of the head of the axe with his own blade, twisted it, and sent the axe flying. He used his other hand to give a swift uppercut, sending the bandit following his axe backwards through the air.

“Hey -- over here!” the boys in blue and yellow came running up behind them. They seemed relieved that Shen Qingqiu and the girl were unharmed.

Jeralt then came galloping up towards Shen Qingqiu. His brows were knitted together in some emotion Shen Qingqiu couldn’t quite make out. “Hey… Did you just…” but before he could continue, a bellow from across the clearing interrupted, to Shen Qingqiu’s relief.

“The Knights of Seiros are here! We’ll cut you down for terrorizing our students!” He proudly saluted, then realized with a start, “Hey, the thieves are running away! Go after them!” the man gave out commands to his troops, and Shen Qingqiu had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

The leader came up to the teens and looked them up and down. “The students seem to be unharmed. And...who’s this?” His attention now focused on Jeralt and Shen Qingqiu. 

Jeralt sighed and muttered “ugh, why him?” running a hand down his face.

Before they continued, Shen Qingqiu got a system notification pop up. 

Battle - Skirmish at Dawn completed!   
5 turns  
MVP: Huanggua

The dialogue box looked completely different from the notifications and menus in Proud Immortal Demon Way, and for the first time it sunk in just how estranged Shen Qingqiu was from his home. From his husband, Luo Binghe. Hell, even from his friends like Airplane Bro.

Shen Qingqiu really wished he had his fan right now.

Jeralt, who had just dismounted his horse, seemed to notice Shen Qingqiu’s expression, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Hey, it’s alright. We’re not in trouble or anything.”

Shen Qingqiu nodded curtly. He had to refocus. He just had to get through whatever this situation he was in, until he had a second to talk to the system and make it send him back where he came from. He would go home to that bamboo house, comfort a probably very distressed Luo Binghe, and everything would be okay.

Right?

Before he could spiral any further the man with the Knights of Seiros ran up to Jeralt and exclaimed, “Captain Jeralt?! It is you! Goodness, it’s been ages.” He paused for a moment, and when Jeralt didn’t say anything, continued, “Don’t you recognize me? It’s Alois! Your old right-hand man! Well, that’s how I always thought of myself anyway. It must have been 20 years ago that you went missing without a trace. I always knew you were still alive!”

Jeralt gave a withering look. “You haven’t changed a bit Alois. Just as loud as ever. And drop that captain nonsense. I’m not your captain anymore. These days I’m just a wandering mercenary. One who has work to do.” He smiled curtly, “Goodbye, old friend.”

Alois seemed to deflate somewhat. “Right… goodbye, Captain.” Then, his whole affect changed with a start back to his chipper, and loud, self, “Wait! That isn’t how this ends. I insist that you return to the monastery with me!”

Now, Jeralt’s face was clouded with many emotions. “Garreg Mach Monastery… I suppose this was inevitable.” He sighed deeply.

Alois seemed to completely miss the change in Jeralt’s demeanor and turned his attention to Shen Qingqiu. “And how about you, kid? Are you the captain’s child?”

Shen Qingqiu froze. He didn’t know if he was or not; unlike with Proud Immortal Demon Way, he had no idea who any of these people were. Was he supposed to guess? If he said the wrong thing, Jeralt would instantly be suspicious of him. Shen Qingqiu took a deep breath to calm himself and quickly ran over what he knew about himself and Jeralt from the short time he had spent here. They slept in the same quarters, and Jeralt had expressed concern towards him that went deeper than a captain with one of his troops. Plus, the ages would work out for Jeralt to be his-- well, Huanggua’s -- father.

It was better than the only other option Shen Qingqiu could think of, which was pretending to be mute. “That is correct, I’m his son”

Alois smiled broadly. “Is that so? Well, physical differences aside, your mannerisms do remind me of the captain.”

Really? Shen Qingqiu didn’t think they were much alike, to be honest, but he wasn’t about to correct the man.

“I’d love for you to see the monastery too. You will join me, won’t you?”

Shen Qingqiu figured that wherever Jeralt went he should probably follow for now, so he nodded. At his answer, Jeralt let out a frustrated sigh.

Finally, Alois picked up on Jeralt’s sour mood. “What’s troubling you, Captain? You aren’t about to run off again, are you?”

Jeralt gave a surprisingly serious response. “Even I wouldn’t dare run from the Knights of Seiros.”

As the two walked off, Shen Qingqiu went to follow but was startled by hearing the young girl’s, Sothis’, voice. “The Knights of Seiros… They do seem rather skilled.”

Shen Qingqiu looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen.

She spoke again, “Ah. It seems your presence is required. Get going!” Jeralt and Alois had stopped walking a ways ahead and were looking back at Shen Qingqiu expectantly. Oh god, he really had lost it, he was hearing a little girl talk to him in his head. Unnerved, Shen Qingqiu jogged to catch up with his father and the knight.

The three teens had also gathered, and approached Shen Qingqiu when he arrived. The girl in red spoke first, “I appreciate your help back there. Your skill is beyond question.”

Shen Qingqiu inwardly preened. High praise since she saw him drop his sword! Maybe Luo Binghe’s golden halo had rubbed off on him.

She continued, “You’re clearly an experienced mercenary. And your father… That would be Jeralt, the Blade Breaker? Former captain of the Knights of Seiros. Oft praised as the strongest knight to ever live. Have I missed anything?”

How would Shen Qingqiu know?! Clearly this girl knew more about his father than he did! She also seemed to like to exposition, so Shen Qingqiu decided to try to get some more information. “The Knights of Seiros?” 

The girl seemed taken aback by that. “You haven’t heard of the Knights of Seiros? The most famous order of knights in all of Fodlan?”

Shen Qingqiu panicked. Clearly that was the wrong question. Luckily, before he could stick his foot any further in his mouth, the boy in yellow cut in, changing the subject. “Hey! You are coming with us to the monastery, right? Of course you are. I’d love to bend your ear as we travel. Oh, I should mention that the three of us are students at the Officers Academy at Garreg Mach Monastery. We were doing some training exercises when those bandits attacked. I definitely got the worst of it.”

“That would be because you ran off.” The girl in red said, unimpressed.

“Too true! I was the first to make a strategic retreat. Everything would have worked out if these two hadn’t followed me and ruined everything. Because of them, every single one of those bandits chased after us. Utterly ridiculous.”

The boy in blue seemed genuinely put out. “Ah, so that’s what you were thinking, Claude. And here I thought you were acting as a decoy for the sake of us all.”

The girl was clearly frustrated with both of them. “His intentions were as clear as day. You will prove a lacking ruler if you cannot see the truth behind a person’s words, Dimitri.”

The boy in blue, Dimitri, replied, “Hm. You will prove a lacking ruler yourself if you look for deceit behind every word and fail to trust those whom you rely on.”

The boy in yellow, who the other boy had called Claude, rolled his eyes. “Oh, joy. A royal debate between Their Highnesses. I wonder how being completely predictable affects one’s ability to wield power. Personally, as the embodiment of distrust, I’d say your little exchange smacks of naivete.”

This seemed to get to the girl. “Me? Naive? Tell me, are you actually incapable of keeping quiet, or is your lack of self-awareness a condition of some sort?”

Dimitri diverted his attention back to Shen Qingqiu, who had simply been watching the whole scene unfold with a mildly interested eye. “In any case, forgive our digression. I must speak with you, if you can spare a moment.” He got an adorably excited gleam in his eye. “The way you held your ground against the bandits’ leader was captivating! You never lost control of the situation. It showed me I still have much to learn.”

The girl in red nodded, and said, “Your skill is precisely why I must ask you to consider lending your services to the Empire.” She smiled confidently. “I might as well tell you now. I am no mere student. I am also the Adrestian Empire’s--”

“Halt, Edelgard.” Dimitri cut her off. “Please allow me to finish my own proposition.” He turned back to Shen Qingqiu. “The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus is in dire need of exceptional individuals like yourself. Please, do consider returning to the Kingdom with me.”

“Whoa, there!” Claude cut in. “You two sure are hasty. Trying to recruit someone you just met. Tactless, really.” He smirked. “I was personally planning to develop a deep and lasting friendship on our journey back to the monastery before begging for favors. But it seems there’s no time for niceties in this world. So, capable stranger, let’s get right to it. Where does your allegiance lie?”

Sothis then sounded in his head, causing Shen Qingqiu to flinch. Would he ever get used to that? “Hmm. It seems one’s place of birth is quite significant to them. Yet they are so impressed by you that you may take your pick. Well?”

Shen Qingqiu got a system notification as soon as she finished talking. It had three options:   
Adrestian Empire: Land of Ancient History  
Holy Kingdom of Faerghus: Land of Noble Knights  
Leicester Alliance: Burgeoning League of Nobles

He remembered that the girl, Edelgard, had mentioned an Empire and the boy in blue had said the name Holy Kingdom of Faerghus so he assumed those were their respective territories. That meant Claude must represent the Leicester Alliance, but the boy didn’t really match the country description as well as the other two matched theirs. That was interesting, but Shen Qingqiu sighed in frustration. He had so little information to go off of, a feeling he was unused to from his time in Proud Immortal Demon Way. He didn’t like it.

This was clearly a story choice that would affect the path of the plot, right? Which did Shen Qingqiu think would be easiest? Edelgard intimidated him, and he would be too on edge about slipping up in front of her, so she was out. That left Claude and the other boy. Claude was clearly a smart ass, and Shen Qingqiu, while he appreciated the intelligence, did not think he could put up with the attitude successfully long term. 

That only left one option.

“This one chooses the Kingdom of Faerghus.”

The boy smiled. “Understood. Faerghus is a noble and distinguished kingdom that has always valued chivalry.”

Oh god, they were all going to be a bunch of goody two shoes weren’t they?

Before Shen Qingqiu could ask any further questions about what he had just signed up for, Alois came up and interrupted them. “All right, that’s enough with the small talk. It’s time to head back to the monastery!”

Claude winked. “Looks like we’ll have to pick this up another time.”

The three teens left to follow Alois, but before Shen Qingqiu could do the same, Sothis spoke to him. “My, my. They are in such a hurry. You know… Each of the three is most unique…”

Well of course they were! Clearly they were story-important npcs! But he did take a moment to think on them. Edelgard was a refined young woman, but he felt as if she were constantly evaluating him. Claude’s easy smile was striking, but Shen Qingqiu had noticed it never quite reached his eyes. And as for Dimitri, he seemed quite sincere, but Shen Qingqiu could sense there was a darkness lurking beneath. In fact, the boy reminded him of a young Luo Binghe, and it pained his heart. 

Sothis yawned, and it startled Shen Qingqiu from his thoughts. “I am so sleepy once again… I may be sleeping… But I…” she apparently fell asleep before finishing her sentence, which annoyed Shen Qingqiu. Did he have to lug around this weird girl in his head for his whole time here? Just another reason he was ready to go home.

He jogged to catch up with the others, and once everyone was gathered, the group set off towards Garreg Mach Monastery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have not been able to stop thinking about the similarities between Dimitri and LBH since I read Scum Villain and I am so excited to explore that in this fic! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please comment and tell me what you think!


End file.
